FINDING CONTENTMENT AMIDST THE DAILY GRIND

Romans 15:14-33
Bob Bonner
June 23, 1996

A little over a week ago, I heard the following 1994 statistics for the second time. Once again they impressed me. In Josephine County, 37% of all children born, were born out of wedlock to unwed mothers. Of those children born out of wedlock, they are five times more likely to be poor; ten times more likely to be extremely poor.

As I listened to those figures, I thought of not only the children who would not be raised by two parents and the disadvantages they would be forced to live with, but I also thought of the those single moms and dads. How many of those young single parents would face the rest of their lives with shattered childhood dreams of a potentially happy marriage to someone they love? How many of them would feel like they made the permanent mistake and that their lives would be lived under the banner of total failure? How many of them would feel trapped by their circumstances and see their future as hopeless drudgery and meaningless? How many of them would continue on with the next 40-60 years of their lives with the scars of rejection and feelings of no or very low self-worth?

There are many people, even several of you in this room who are just like single parents who face a future based on wrong decisions, crushed dreams or a future that is just as dark but has nothing to do with your personal choices but rather you feel like your future is controlled by the ongoing inequities and injustices of life. 

For all of us, how do we find contentment and purpose in the midst of the daily grind. What is the secret to surviving and working through mistakes, inequities, injustices, rejection, health failure and job cut backs and still finding joy, peace and contentment and a reason to continue on in the midst of it all?

Among other things, that's the focal point that we will find addressed and modeled for us in our passage of scripture for this morning. As we work through this passage, we will uncover four secrets to finding contentment in the midst of an unjust and unforgiving world. If you have your Bibles with you, I invite you to open them to Romans 15:14.

In order for us to get a feeling for this final section in our study of Romans, let's take a moment to place this last piece of the puzzle of Romans within the setting of the rest of the puzzle.

In the first eleven chapters of Romans, Paul gave us his great exposition on the doctrinal issues surrounding our salvation in Jesus Christ. We learned that Jesus died to pay for the penalty of our sin and that we were made righteous before God, never having to earn God's approval ever again, because we already have it in Christ. In addition, we learned that we have been given a completely new identity. We are no longer children of the devil, but children of God, holy and set apart for a mission on this earth. We are saints who may choose to sin, but no longer sinners who cannot control themselves. All of these themes are spoken of in depth in the first eleven chapters of Romans, The Great Exposition.

Then, with chapters 12-15:13, we have Paul's great exhortation that teaches us how we are to live, based on our being saved and having been given a new identity. These chapters have been practical in nature as compared to the previous eleven doctrinal chapters.

But now, beginning with Romans 15:14 through the end of the book is the epilogue, the conclusion and farewell to Paul's letter. What's really interesting about the way this last section ends is that it is similar to how Paul began this letter. It is very personal and warm. He is out of the class room and now into the living room.

Back at the very beginning of this letter, Romans 1:8-13, Paul raised the issue that was on many of the Roman Christians' minds: "Are we ever going to get the privilege of meeting the Apostle Paul? He has been to every other major city and sea port in the Roman Empire, except its capital." In this last section of Romans, Paul answers their question and takes his Roman readers into his confidence about his ministry and tells them about his plans to come visit them and what his future holds. 

The first half of our section of study for this morning, verses 14-21 Paul comments on his present ministry. The second half of our study, in verses 22-33, Paul let's them in on future plans for ministry. 

Let' begin our reading with verse 14, in which Paul comments on his present ministry to the church at Rome and his observations about the Christians in Rome. Paul writes, "And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able also to admonish one another."

It is interesting to note that different from other letters which the apostle Paul wrote, this letter to the church at Rome has no specific references in it to individual or corporate problems in the church. The Christians in the church at Rome obviously were not perfect, but neither were they spiritually deficient. Instead of pointing to problems, Paul points to the evidence of their living as new transformed creations in Christ. In this verse, Paul lists three evidences of a local church who know the Lord and who are walking in dependence upon Him and in obedience to Him. 

The first evidence he commends them for is their "goodness." This term is not your typical word for goodness used in the New Testament. Neither is it used in any other form of classical Greek. It is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. It is a rather rare term that refers to both moral goodness, meaning not lying, stealing, holding grudges, immorality etc.; and to those things which are worthwhile or productive, such as acts of kindness, thoughtfulness, and caring for the poor among you. 

These Christians were not just moral believers, they actively lived their faith in such a way that they did good or spiritually productive works that all could see. In other words, they were not simply moral people who attended church on a weekly basis, but they focused on serving others for the Lord's sake.

Secondly, Paul says that they were "filled with knowledge." Obviously, Paul is not referring to the broad spectrum of human knowledge such as scientific or economic or historical knowledge. Here, he means that knowledge which deals with God's truth.

It interests me the connection Paul makes between virtue or goodness and truth. If you really know truth, it must affect the way you live and how you invest your time. If truth doesn't affect the way you live, then that is an indicator that you really don't know what you think you know. On the other hand, if you do want your life to change and experience what you hear others talk about concerning Jesus supernaturally living His life out through you, then you must get into the word and discover more truth or knowledge. If you do want your life to exhibit what he scriptures say is true about your new identity in Christ, you must study and learn the truth about your new position in Christ. That responsibility is yours and yours alone. No one else can do that for you.

The third evidence of a godly church, modeled for us by the church at Rome is a church that "admonishes one another." This admonishing one another is really a product of the previously mentioned two evidences of goodness and knowledge. 

The term "admonish" carries the idea of encouraging, warning, advising, caring enough about other Christians, especially in your local church, that when you see a blind spot in their lives, you will prayerfully and lovingly confront them. And that is risky business. Because anyone who has ever cared enough about other people and their ministries, that they would confront them knows that too often you run the risk of being rejected or misunderstood for caring enough to confront them.

But for those at Rome, they were willing to take that risk. Whether it is simply admonishing for the purpose of encouraging or correcting another person's blind spot, a church that is alive in Christ has people who know truth, live truth and challenge others to continue to live the truth in Christ for the whole world to see. That was the church in Rome.

But that raises a question: If these Christians at the church in Rome were such a knowledgeable church and a mature church, why did Paul feel the need to write them this in depth doctrinal letter? He answers that question in verse 15 by telling us the character or the nature or the reason behind his letter writing. He states, "But I have written very boldly to you on some points, so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God,"

Don't you love those little yellow "post-em" notes? I've discovered that the older I get, the greater my "forgetful factor" increases. During some very busy weeks I must go through a whole pad in one week. I have these little yellow sheets on my mirror at home in the bathroom, on the counter in the kitchen, some are stuck to the dashboard of the car, on the phone, in the inside of my wallet...they are everywhere! 

All of us were created with a built in flaw of forgetfulness. Somebody else once said that the greatest proof of the fall of the human race is that we have such a hard time remembering what we want to remember, yet we so easily remember what we want to forget! And that goes for what we know to be true about our lives lived in the power of Jesus Christ. We have to routinely be reminded of the truth about our lives in Christ. And that's one reason that Paul wrote this letter...to remind them in writing of what they have already learned.

Every day we work in a world filled with allusions and lies. Every night Americans sit in front of the boob tube having our brains flushed with too much corruption. As a result, we forget what the truth is and what God says we are to be and do. We lose sight of whose is true in control and the hope we have in Christ. Every day we have our perspective on reality challenged. We need to be reminded constantly that this life and all that we see is not all there is. We need to get God's perspective of history in the midst of an unjust world to see that in the end, justice will be had.

Last week, I had the privilege of sitting in on Ken Ward's Sunday School class as he is teaching 1 Peter. The section we were studying dealt with the various struggles and trials Christians face and how it can get us down. But then, Peter reminds his readers that Jesus is coming again and that they should not lose sight of this, in the midst of the daily grind of life. Instead, Peter, moved by the Spirit of God, writes the following commands: 1:13-16, "Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Then, based on what they know to be the truth about their future, he says, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’" Repetition and reminders are the ongoing mother of learning in the midst of a corrupt world. 

I know that historically, this letter to the Christians at Rome came just a few years before the fall of Nero, the sadistic Caesar of the time. The fires of persecution were already heating up for the Christians in Rome. I have wondered if God, being a God of providence, seeing that the wicked collapse of Rome and the persecution of Christians on the horizon would take place, had the apostle Paul write this letter to keep the Christians at Rome focused on what is truth in the midst of a crazy mixed up world. Was God preparing the Romans for the immediate and difficult days ahead? Was he trying to teach them the importance of focusing on the truth about the promised future rather than the immediate struggle of the day? Whether he was or not, the following principle still stands if you want to find contentment amidst the injustice and inequities and broken dreams of life: to find contentment in this life regardless of our circumstances, requires that we must keep the truth about eternal life ever before us

That is just part of the secret that each Christian who is living through difficult times must personally apply to succeed in finding worth, value and contentment in their lives. Keep focused on the truth.

And just so we might have an example of a Christian who has found contentment while living under pressure, Paul turns to writing about himself in the next 6 verses, concerning his call to ministry as an apostle. He focuses on the truth of his identity of who he is in Christ. As a unique minister or an apostle, Paul will point to three aspects of his calling. In these verses we will observe a second secret to finding contentment being modeled for us by Paul, who not unlike us, was forced to live in the midst of the daily grind.

Paul describes the first aspect of his apostleship as that of a "priest" in verse 16. He writes, "to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest, the gospel of God, that {my} offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

Paul chooses to use a unique word here for "minister." He didn't use the normally used term here for "servant" or "deacon,' but the word from which we get our word "liturgy." Originally, it was a term used of a public official. In a religious sense, it referred to those who served publicly in worship. It was also used of ministering angels, or beings who lived to serve God.

Paul chose this term to describe himself because he is saying that his missionary work to the gentiles is like that of a priest offering up his work of service as a sacrifice to God. It is not that Paul sees himself or anything he has given up as the sacrificial offering. It is his evangelistic work to the gentiles that is his offering to God. And Paul is writing this letter to them to make sure that he has done all he could to teach them what they needed to know about their new lives in Christ. 

These gentiles who had come to Christ were set apart for their own ministries, by the Holy Spirit. Their being "set apart" for their own ministries is what the religious term "sanctified" means. Hence, Paul is offering to the Lord or returning to the Lord, that which was already God's, these new believing gentiles, trusting that God will accept Paul's effort at fulfilling his job of bringing the church to maturity, preparing them for the service of his king. 

So, one way Paul pictures himself or sees his identity is that of a priest offering his efforts to God. 

The next aspect of Paul's identity of a minister is that he sees himself as a "preacher" in verses 17-21. Paul writes, "Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God." Be careful how you understand those words. Paul is not bragging about his evangelistic accomplishments amongst non-Jews or the fact that he is an apostle. This term "boasting" means simply to glory or be excited about something. And what is Paul so pumped up about? Paul is very enthusiastic about the life he has lived. He is deeply moved by his new identity in Christ, his calling, purpose and direction Christ has given to his life. He feels that he has invested his life wisely as a priest and preacher to the gentiles. He is excited that different than many others of our day, Paul was not wrestling with the typical questions of life of "Why am I here?" or "What's my purpose for living?"

But to make sure that people don't misunderstand him, Paul adds, "For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum [il-ler-i-cum] I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." 

To paraphrase what Paul means here: he refuses to take any credit for the results of his ministry of preaching the word or the miraculous works he has performed that have lead the Gentiles to submit in obedience to Jesus Christ.

So, as a minister, or an official servant of God, Paul says, "I have offered up my work as a holy sacrifice to the Lord, as a priest would offer up a lamb to God. Secondly, as a minister, I have preached the good news to the gentiles, but God has brought about the results."

Now, thirdly, as an official for Jesus Christ, Paul tells us that he has also been a "pioneer" for Jesus, going to lands where no one else has ever gone to preach Jesus. Verse 20, "And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation; but as it is written, "They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who have not heard shall understand."

 Paul is not saying that there is something wrong for someone to follow up another person's ministry. Instead, he is simply describing his hunger for reaching unreached people for Christ.

Truly, an official for Jesus Christ, Paul, previously a non-believing Jesus hater turned believing Jesus lover was given a whole new identity in Christ. He saw himself as a priest, preacher and pioneer. This was a privileged new identity given to him by God. 

This new identity saw him through his past failure as a Pharisee and through the dusty, mundane business of traveling the ancient world on foot, suffering from exposure, threats, beatings, and rejection. When most people would have given up, thinking this must be a waste of time, Paul's secret to contentment in the midst of life's harshest difficulties was to focus on his new identity as believer...to focus on his calling as a priest, preacher and pioneer.

It's common knowledge today that how we perceive ourselves greatly determines how we live our lives. Because Paul saw himself not as a failure, but as how God viewed him, he was excited with who he was regardless of his circumstances. Similarly, if only each of us could see ourselves as God sees us...if we could grab a hold of our new identity and calling from God as Christians, then we too could find contentment regard-less of our past failures or present circumstances. Everything we could do, would have value, because it involved our mission as a child of God. 

Each of us, like Paul, are called to be ministers as Paul refers to here. We are not all called to be apostles, but we are all called to be officials whose whole lives are offered up as a service to God. Imagine, baking a pie for a neighbor becomes an offering to God. A child held lovingly in the church nursery becomes a liturgy; an employee treated with dignity in the name of Christ, a beatitude. A single parent providing for and nurturing a child under the harshest of circumstances is a unique ministry before the Lord.

This sacred view of life, based on our new identity in Christ is the second secret to finding true excitement, hope and contentment, regardless of the conditions in which we live or the circumstance we face. The degree to which the believer perceives his/her identity as a uniquely called minister of God, will determine the degree to which the believer finds contentment in this life while in the service of the Lord. 

Like the apostle Paul, in the immediate, we might not like the beatings of life we all face, but we know that God has called us to live in those circumstances and uses even those tough times for his good.

Now, Paul, beginning with verses 22-33 moves from talking about what was happening with his present ministry to commenting on his future ministry. He begins with his long range plans in verses 22-24. He writes, "For this reason I have often been hindered from coming to you; but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain--for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while--"

Paul answers the question that may have been on the minds of the Christians at Rome: "Why have you gone to every other major city and sea port in the empire but not come to see us in Rome?" He simply says that he has wanted to come very badly, but has been hindered thus far. However, he does have a plan to come to Rome on his way to Spain, to preach Jesus Christ there.

From here, Paul goes on to tell them about his immediate plans. He writes, "...but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. [or the Christians in Jerusalem] For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” Historically, there had been a famine and a severe rejection of Jewish-Christians from the work place in Jerusalem. Hence, the Jewish Christians had fallen on hard financial times. As a result, the rest of the Christians in the Roman empire, most of whom were gentiles, reached out in love and sent the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem money to stem the tide of hard times. Paul obviously felt that this was important because it would cement even more the ties between Jews and gentiles.

Paul continues, "Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they [the gentiles] are indebted to them [the jews. Why?]. For if the Gentiles have shared in their [Israel's] spiritual things, [salvation through the jewish messiah, then] they [the gentiles] are indebted to minister to them [the jews] also in material things. Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, [meaning their love offering that Paul was going to take back to Jerusalem] I will go on by way of you to Spain. And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ."

So, Paul says, that when he finishes this delivering of the money to Jerusalem, he planned to come to Rome. However, history shows us that even then, Paul's plans didn't quite go as he expected. He returned to Rome, but had no idea that when he got there, he would arrive in chains as a prisoner. No one knows for sure if Paul fulfilled his dreams of reaching Spain. But there is a lesson here for those of us who are in leadership (whether God has you in secular leadership, family leadership or church leadership.)

I have always had a clear picture of what a successful healthy family, church, business, and marriage would look like. I personally have always wanted to be a part of one. One of my problems with those concepts is that I have found out that one can never feel like one has reached those goals of having a healthy family, business, church or marriage because there are too many factors that are constantly changing. What is successful today can quickly and without warning, turn into disaster tomorrow. In fact, just because a church is healthy for the first 10 years of its ministry, doesn't mean that it will always be healthy.

The lesson I have learned is that to me and others, what we think is most important is our arriving at our goals of having a healthy church, marriage, business or family. But to God, it's not arriving at our goals that is so important, but it is learning the lessons we need to understand along the way. The process is just as important, if not more so, than the arrival. To take this back to another secret of contentment: Contentment is not found in the arrival at our destination, as much as it is learning the lessons from the Lord along the way. 

What was most important in Paul's mind was getting to Spain. But to God, what was most important was the ministry and growth in Paul's life along the way. Although Paul may have been disappointed that he did not realize all of his dreams, he found contentment with each day's journey along his road of life.

Coming from the home of a successful general contractor who built houses, office complexes, condominiums, etc., I have wanted to be a successful spiritual general contractor, involved in eternally building into people's lives. That is my passion and what drives me.

Like most general contractors, time is of the essence. Time always means money. You want to get the job done as soon as possible. 

To the spiritual contractor, time means lives. This impatient drive of the general contractor I have found, has moved its way into my thinking concerning the spiritual growth of the church. I want it to grow up fast...at least as fast as I think other churches have grown. And I don't mean numerically, I mean in the maturity of the believers. But I have learned that God may never allow me to see any church that I am apart of arrive at that realistic level of maturity. Therefore, what I'm learning is, "Don't be in such a hurry to get there, but instead, enjoy the ride and build as the spirit leads you to build, one day at a time." 

God is in charge of the level of maturity of your children, His church and your business and even your marriage. You just be faithful to him and your individual daily responsibilities. Then, you will find contentment."

One other application I find in these verses comes from the term "blessing." The term "blessing" is used three different ways in the New Testament. In this case, I believe that Paul means all three. First, blessing means "to be set apart". In other words, God has set Paul apart to bring something special to the saints at Rome. Second, blessing refers to someone being spoken well of or eulogized. Because of Paul's actions and attitudes, he is confident that when he arrives, his reputation will proceed him. Thirdly, blessing means to be truly happy. Because Paul is God's servant, he will be profoundly happy to serve God in Rome and in doing so, he will also make others eternally happy.

One of the things that caused Paul to be content in the midst of his rejection and pain, was to know that God was using his life to make others eternally happy. Hence, another secret to contentment in life, regardless of your past or your present circumstances is, contentment is found in serving others for the Lord. 

Have you ever thought of your life in those terms? Most of us want God to bless us, to make us happy, protect us from all harm, to give us a long life, to keep our children out of trouble. Those are indeed, blessings. But they are pretty self-centered, aren't they. I challenge you with this thought, when you are struggling with a lack of contentment with your life: Ask God to show you, how can I be or impart an eternal spiritual blessing to others? 

Paul closes this section with a request for the Christians at Rome to pray for his future ministry and coming to them. He writes, "Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive [literally, "agonize"] together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and {that} my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find {refreshing} rest in your company. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen."

Whoever said that prayer is easy, doesn't really know what they are talking about. True prayer that changes people's lives is hard work. I don't fully understand even what I am saying. But I do know that to get me to pray sometimes is a real battle. Either I am too independent or the enemy doesn't want me to pray so he convinces me that it isn't important or worthwhile, so don't. It is hard, a struggle, to agonize or pray for others. That's why Paul is honest here about his own struggle to pray and tells us he needs others to join him in prayer and to hold him accountable.

What's interesting about all three of Paul's prayer requests is that they were answered, but they weren't answered in the way he expected. For instance, he was delivered from the persecution in Judea---but only after getting beaten up and having his life threatened. God rescued Paul through the Romans placing him in prison.

Secondly, the saints in Jerusalem did accept the service of his financial gift that he collected from the gentiles. The Jews were not to proud to accept money from the gentile believers.

Third, he did get to Rome to see them, but it was by way of a prison and a ship-wreck two and a half years later. He received refreshment from the Roman Christians. But it was while he was in jail.

Throughout all of his struggles, rejections and his mistakes in the ministry, ---yes Paul made several---Paul never lost his contentment because of four secrets we saw this morning. He kept today's trouble in perspective with the future crown of glory that was laid up for him in heaven. His present troubles were overshadowed by what was coming in the future which far outweighed what he faced today. Secondly, because he knew he was God's child and God's handpicked servant, even in the midst of a troubled unjust world, he was content to serve the Lord, knowing that it was for this that he was saved and he would be rewarded later. Thirdly, Paul didn't find or lose his contentment because he arrived or never arrived in Spain. Instead, he found contentment in drawing close to God along the way. Finally, Paul didn't live looking to find blessings for himself, but to be a blessing to others.

How about you? If you are not content with your life right now, could it have to do with the failure of applying any one of these three secrets to your life? Let's pray.

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